Rise and shine: Notable Canadians share the morning routines that set them up for success | Canada Voices

For the past month, I’ve been trying out a new morning routine. I wake up, brush my teeth and grab a coffee. Then I head into my living room and read a book for 10 minutes. After that I write down three things I’m grateful for and three things that I want to accomplish that day. The accomplishments need to be specific and actionable. Go for a jog. Call my mom. The gratitude list is a bit more lax. One day I’m grateful for the friendly neighbourhood cat. The next it’s gratitude for falling in love or the discovery of electricity.

It’s remarkable what a difference the routine has made to my mood. Prior to starting the new practice, I’d wake up and immediately get sucked into my phone, mindlessly scrolling through Instagram or jumping into work e-mails. A bit of existential dread to go along with breakfast. By contrast, this routine lets me ease into the morning. And the fact that the whole thing is over in less than fifteen minutes has made it easy to stick with.

Studies have shown “wake-up tasks” can have an impact on behavioural changes. A 2022 paper noted that “early morning behaviours can develop into productive habits.” A 2017 study noted that morning people tend to be more persistent, self-directed and co-operative. The research suggests that making an effort to be productive in the morning can have compounding results. But that doesn’t mean we need to be mimicking the intense pre-dawn workout regimen of Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson or dunking our face into ice water like influencer Ashton Hall. Being conscious about how you start each day, prioritizing the things that matter and making simple, consistent, changes can lead to compounding returns.

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I spoke with four notable Canadians about their morning routines, the rituals they start the day with and the advice they’d give others if they’d like to implement their own practice.

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Marissa Stapley is a New York Times bestselling author. Her thriller Lucky was selected as part of Reese Witherspoon’s book club and was recently adapted for Apple TV with Anya Taylor-Joy playing the lead. While the life of an author is often romanticized in books and movies, in the early days of her career, she had to make time to write where she could find it.

“I was doing those 5 a.m. wake ups out of pure necessity,” said Stapley, before the rush of school drop-offs and the kids coming home for lunch. “I needed to safeguard my writing time and getting up early was the way to get things done.”

In the early days, the effort, care and hard work in the early mornings paid off. Nowadays with one kid out of the house, the other heading off to university, and a massively successful creative career, the routine looks a bit different.

Stapley has a comparatively luxurious wake-up time of 7:30 a.m. Her husband brings her a coffee and she spends the first hour or two of her day journalling and outlining stories with a pen and paper, working from her king-sized bed (where her cats also like to hang out). From there, Stapley gets in a walk or some exercise. By around 10, she’s at her desk, writing or working on deadlines. The writer says she hits a wall creatively at around 2 p.m., and reserves the rest of the workday for administrative tasks.

It’s a routine that’s proved incredibly fruitful for the author. “I find the morning, for me and for a lot of my colleagues, that’s the time when the magic will happen.”

If you don’t have enough creativity in your life, Stapley suggests starting the day by putting pen to paper. Thoughts, feelings, big ideas, anything that comes to mind is valid. The journalling itself doesn’t need to be for anything specific. Allowing yourself to write without any barriers beyond getting words on the page, she believes you free yourself up for creative ideas.

Morning routines can look different at different stages of your life

Deborah Cox is a platinum-selling singer and actor. Cox – widely considered one of Canada’s all-time great R&B artists – is currently starring in Titanique on Broadway, an over-the-top jukebox musical parody of Titanic from the perspective of My Heart Will Go On songstress Celine Dion. Performing eight shows a week, Cox prioritizes restful and quieter mornings, saving her energy for each performance.

“It’s really a pretty heavy schedule when you’re doing so much in a short length of time and you don’t really have that recovery period,” Cox said. “I need to be really mindful of what I have in the day ahead of me and what I gotta do … my morning routine switches depending on where I am or what I’m doing with my kids.”

Practically, Cox’s mornings in New York are slow and intentional, making sure she’s putting her best foot forward for the stage. A 7:30 wake up is followed by a protein shake. At 8:15, it’s time for 15 minutes of meditation, then off to the gym for a workout and yoga. When performing it’s not irregular for her to spend most of the morning in silence, giving her vocal cords a much-needed rest before a vocal warm-up at around 10 a.m.

When she’s not in the middle of a show, the routine is a bit looser, focusing energy on time with her kids and staying active. Breakfast with the family can look like pancakes and fried eggs. The workouts are a combo of strength training and cardio interval training.

“I train my body to do these quick spurts of energy,” Cox said. The training helps her stay ready for performances, where she’s asked to perform difficult powerhouse songs between many smaller moments. “It’s the same kind of energy I exert during a show.”

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While Cox is undeniably a high-achiever, the difference between her mornings when performing on Broadway compared to being back home are a useful reminder: A morning routine should be setting you up for success in your day. Individual needs are going to vary widely depending on the time of your life, your ambitions and your obligations. Rather than trying to live up to some idealized notion of what you should be doing, finding the small shifts in how you start your day can make a big difference. Ten minutes really can make a difference.

Avoiding your phone first thing in the morning can make time for other commitments

Will Tennyson is one of the top fitness creators on YouTube. With a channel boasting more than five million subscribers, he’s developed a massive following through a combination of practical fitness advice, deeply personal storytelling and over-the-top self-experimentation.

For social media, Tennyson – based in the Greater Toronto Area – has tried out the morning routines of everyone from Mark Wahlberg to Andrew Huberman, creating viral videos reviewing the good and the bad of each regimen.

“I think that people are interested to see if there are any secret weapons people are doing that they can implement themselves,” Tennyson said. “Maybe there’s a specific supplement, a de-stressing routine, skin cream or a specific meal. What little thing might make a big difference in the morning?”

Tennyson’s own routine, including his workout, takes about three hours. He starts off the day by brushing his teeth and wearing a red-light cap, to help combat potential hair loss. After that he goes on a walk with his wife and dog, getting in some family time, and venturing for coffee. Back home, he spends 10 to 15 minutes in front of a full-body red-light panel. That time also doubles as a kind of standing meditation, a chance to reflect on the work that needs to be done that day. After that, he does a 45-minute fasted workout. From there it’s a high protein, high fat breakfast.

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While Tennyson notes that his job affords him a different kind of lifestyle than most people, he has also spent a lot of effort experimenting with morning habits that set him up for success. One of his biggest wins? Less phone time when waking up.

“You may think checking things will take five minutes. The next thing you know? It’s been 15,” Tennyson said. By eliminating some phone time in the morning, Tennyson notes that you can carve out some space for activities that are more important to you. “I think a big thing people could do is just get up, get out and get some morning sun. Even a short walk lets you get some movement and prepare yourself for the day.”

A great morning can start the night before

Emma Stern co-founded the Canadian digital health care platform Felix Health in 2019. She currently serves as the company’s chief operating officer. Before Felix, Stern cut her teeth working in investment banking and startups. At that point in her life, she was living out an idealized version of the corporate high-achiever – think prework Pilates classes and matcha drinks – but balancing the current demands and pressures of a C-suite position with young children has meant making some changes.

Stern’s average day starts at 7 a.m., when she makes her morning coffee. After that, the priority is getting her kids ready for school or camp. The first hour-and-a-half of her morning is negotiating outfits, meals and trying to get the family out the door on time. “I don’t have a morning exercise routine, but I would argue that getting a three-year-old into any outfit that isn’t an Elsa dress is a rigorous exercise in and of itself,” she said. Stern notes that her husband usually carts the kids off to school around 8:30. From there she quickly dresses then heads out on a morning walk, in search of another dose of caffeine. The jaunt to her local coffee shop and back takes roughly half an hour. During that time, Stern chats with her Felix co-founder about any top-line issues for the business. It’s a morning set up that highlights Stern’s priorities: her family and her job.

Chatting about what makes her wake-up routine successful, the COO mostly talked about winding down the night before.

“If my morning doesn’t go well, it can kind of throw the rest of my whole day off kilter, potentially the next couple of days … but my success during the day really begins with sleep,” Stern said. “I put a lot of effort into making sure I protect that sleep, which is not the easiest thing to do if you have three young children.”

If you want to feel rested and ready to go while waking up, an evening routine can make a big difference. Stern tries to avoid any caffeine after noon, cuts off screen time by 8:45 each evening and then spends some time reading. Books help her detach from the worries of the day and shift into a more peaceful state of mind. Her ideal bedtime? Quarter after nine.

“I think it’s the best thing I can do for myself. If I’m underslept, everything about the next day is harder,” Stern said.

Of course, running a business, things don’t always go according to plan. “It’s also important to be flexible with yourself and not beat yourself up if life gets in the way.”